Motor-driven invalid&#39;s chair



April 1952 E. c. GLEASON 2,592,023

MOTOR-DRIVEN INVALIDS CHAIR Filed Dec. 25, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

LDE N C GLEASON April 8, 1952 E. c. GLEASON MOTOR-DRIVEN INVALIDS CHAIR 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 23, 1946 INVENTOR.

ELDEN C GLEASON Ap 8, 1952 E. c. GLEASON 2,592,023

MOTOR-DRIVEN INVALIDS CHAIR Filed Dec. 23, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TOR.

ELDEN C. GLEASON Patented Apr. 8, 1952 UNITE MOTOR-DRIVEN INVALIDS CHAIR Elden C. Gleason, Hartford, Wash, assignor to Gleep Mfg. 00., Inc., a corporation of Wash ington Application December 23, 1946, Serial No. 717,948

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a motor-driven invalids chair, and for its general object aims to provide a perfected vehicle of this nature, particularly one including endless traction belts in lieu of the customary wheels.

It is a further and a particular object to devise a crawler-type invalids chair engineered in a manner to permit of its being driven either indoors or outdoors and such as, in the former usage, to substantially obivate any likelihood of the crawler treads scuffing the floor finish.

Other and still more particular objects and advantages will, with the foregoing, appear and be understood in the course of the following description and claims, the invention consisting in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a motor-driven invalids chair produced according to the now preferred embodiment of the present invention, and representing by dotted lines the manner in which an arm of the vehicle is capable of being swung upwardly to facilitate access by an invalid to the chair seat.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view showing only the chassis and running gear of the vehicle, and which is to say with the body removed.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view, and Fig. 4 is a rear elevational View, of the chassis and running gear, the latter View being partly in section taken on line 6-4 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 5 and 6 are transverse vertical sections on lines 55 and 66, respectively, of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 3 excepting that the front end of the vehicle is here shown as having been elevated to raise such front end off the traction belts and onto a single wheel, the purpose being to adapt the vehicle to indoor usage by establishing substantially a three-point floor contact.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view detailing the steering head of the vehicle, the scale being enlarged from that of the preceding views; and

Figs. 9 and 1-0 are fragmentary horizontal sectional views on respective section lines 9-9 and l--l0 of Fig. 8.

The vehicle of the present invention follows the usual custom in present-day coach work, and that is to provide a chassis engineered for functional value and a body therefor which substantially conceals the chassis and gives to the vehicle the streamlined appearance demanded by the car-buying public.

First describing the chassis, a frame therefor is comprised of stringers denoted by the numerals l8 and I9, and a severalty of cross-braces 20, 2| and 22 joining the stringers. Boltably attached to the rear ends of the stringers are brackets 23 and supported by these brackets is a non-rotary transverse shaft 24 serving as the vehicles rear axle and having its ends projected beyond the brackets for the mounting thereon of driver wheels 25 and 2t. At the front end of the frame there is bolted to the outer face of each stringer a bracket 27 presenting a forwardly directed fork, and fitting in and made longitudinally adjustable with respect to the fork of these front brackets is a respective bearing-holder 28, the bearings carried by these holders forming the journal mountings for stub axles 29 on which idler front wheels 39 and 3! are supported. The frame is completed by a severalty (three being indicated) of cross-arms which are placed to extend transversely of the vehicle at more or less uniformly spaced intervals of'the length, and these arms, which I denote 32, 33 and 34, are each boltably or otherwise fixedly secured to the underside of the stringers and present threaded stud ends, as 35, 35 and 31, projecting as prolongations of the arms transversely beyond the stringers. There is journaled for rocker action upon these studs a respective dolly-yoke, as 38, 39 and 40, and carried by these dolly-yok'es are sets of dolly-wheels Ill-42. Considered in more particularity, the dolly-wheels of each set are four in number comprised of two pairs of co-axial wheels, and with these paired wheels (see Fig. 5) being mounted upon a stub shaft 43 freely journaled through suitable bearings supported by a centrally placed hub d4 formed upon the extremity of each yoke arm.

For a purpose which will be hereinafter set forth, the rearmost dolly-yoke 38, while being allowed to rock freely through a limited degree of travel, is made subject to a controlled canting action through means of a crank arm 45 extending upwardly as in integral part of the dolly-yoke and fastened by a pin-and-slot connection to one end of a jointed connecting rod 46 which attaches by its other end to a power-actuated crank 41.

Denoted by 48 and 49 are endless crawler belts for the two sides of the vehicle and these belts in each instance extend by the upper run directly from the related driver to the related idler wheel and thence pass by the return run under the dolly-wheels to the driver. The belts are composed of rubber or any other suitable tractionproducing material, and are made to present longitudinal V-ribs upon the inner face which work in grooves of th several wheels.

For powering the drivers, there is fixedly secured to the outer face of each stringer a reversible electric motor, as 50 and 5|, placed by preference with the axis of the armature shaft running parallel to the stringer. The armature shaft is clutch-connected to an alined shaft 52, and from the latter operates through suitable gearing housed in a gear box 53 to drive a transversely placed jack-shaft 55, and a sprocket 56 on this jack-shaft transfers the power through an endless chain 51 to a sprocket wheel 58 boltably affixed to the exposed face of the related driver wheel. Electric energy for the activation of the motors is stored in batteries (not shown) carried, by preference, in two compartments, one of which is described between the cross-brace 20 and the cross-brace 2i and the other of which is described between the cross-brace 2| and the cross-brace 22. Slats or the like, also not shown, are applied longitudinally as floor-strips for the compartments. In lieu of electric motors, it is entirely feasible to utilize a gas-fueled engine as the source of power for the vehicle, in which event the mounting arrangement would be one, preferably, in which a single engine common to both drivers is supported between the stringers, conmeeting by respective clutches with the two jackshafts. Tests conducted with a 1 H. P., aircooled, Briggs & Stratton engine indicates that a power plant of this capacity suffices for all practical purposes, and in those instances where it is to be expected that the operator of the vehicle will subject the same to long hours of continuous duty the desirable fuel medium is gasoline.

A particular feature of the present invention is the provision of a steerable front wheel 60 freely journaled in a supporting fork GI and capable of being vertically moved to cause the same to occupy either a normally inactive elevated position or a lowered operating position, the said lowered position locating the wheel such that its tread plane projects below the level of a plane common to the undersides of the several dollywheels. The steerable front wheel is placed central to the vehicle, and as a mounting therefor I employ a screw-jack structure (Figs. 8, 9 and 10). This jack structure provides a pintle 62, and the pintle-made a part of the fork '6l-is journaled for relative rotation within an externally threaded sleeve 63 while being held to unitary endwise movement with the latter. The sleeve is made to work in the internal threads of a worm-wheel 64 held against axial movement, and meshing the worm-wheel is a worm 65 powered from the reversible motor 50 by means of a normally inactive flexible shaft housed in a cable 66. A clutch 61 between the motor and the shaft is normally controlled by the occupant of the vehicle through means such as a hand lever 68 (Fig. 7). The driven end of the clutch drives the flexible shaft through an intervening worm 10, and this worm is in mesh with the teeth of a quadrant gear H to which is attached the crank 41, wherefrom it will be apparent that the act of bringing the flexible shaft into couple with the motor for lowering front wheel 60 additionally acts upon the worm-and-quadrant gearing to turn the crank 41 and simultaneously cant the rearmost dolly-yoke into the position in which the latter is shown in Fig. 7. So activated, and

as will be seen from an inspection of this figure, the vehicle is given a substantial three-point ground contact which is of particular advantage in precluding floor-scufling if the vehicle is being operated indoors. I indicate a gear-box 12 for housing the clutch 61 and the worm-and-quadrant gears 10'I l.

Reverting to the front wheel structure, the steering function is performed through activation of a rearwardly curved arm 13 formed at its base with a squared tenon 14 which fits into a mating socket 15 extending axially into the upper end of the pintle 62. An adjunct to the movement of the steering arm is a pair of rheostats (not shown) associated one with one and the other with the other of the two electric motors 50 and 5|. Sets of contacts 16 and I1 related one to one rheostat and one to the other rheostat and placed one set at one side and the other set at the other side of a neutral point in the path of travel of a brush contact 18 movable in unison with the steering arm serve to decelerate the related motor progressively with the arms turning movement, and this is to say that the steering arm, upon being turned to the right or counterclockwise as viewed from above, decelerates the motor 5| and, upon being turned to the left, decelerates the motor 50. The consequence is that the steering arm is made effective to control the directional course of the vehicle whether the wheel 60 be lowered into operating position or elevated into its inactive position, and it is to be noted that such control of the belts speeds, during such periods as the vehicles front end is elevated to lift the front ends of the crawlers off the floor, substantially precludes fioor-scufflng by the rear ends of the crawlers in that the crawler tread on that side of the vehicle which travels the greater distance during a turning movement is given a correspondingly increased speed. In addition to the steering rheostats, the vehicle desirably incorporates master rheostat controls to govern vehicle speed, and which serve selectively either to step up or reduce the speeds of the two crawler belts in concert.

Proceeding now to describe the body, the same is desirably stream-lined for maximum beauty and preferably covers substantially the entire chassis and running gear excepting only the traction portion of the belts. In addition to a cushioned seat and a cushioned back-rest 8|, the body provides a sheltered pit 82 for the feet of the occupant and arm rests 83-84 at opposite sides of the seat. For ease of access, one or both arm rests is hinged or otherwise connected in a manner which permits the same to be easily swung upwardly out of the way of an invalid entering or leaving the vehicle.

It is thought that the invention will be clearly understood from the foregoing description taken in connection with my illustration of the now preferred embodiment of the invention. The vehicle is one which is extremely maneuverable and which enables the occupant to readily negotiate stairs as well as ramp inclines and, perforce, curbs. The stored power of the batteries is found to be sufiicient to operate the vehicle for periods of between three and four hours of continuous use, and it becomes necessary only that the operator use ordinary judgment in the length of time between stops to enable the storage load of the batteries to withstand the normal demands of a full day. For re-charging the batteries, a charging line applied over-night will restore the same to full strength unless the demands placed upon the batteries during the preceding day have been unusually heavy.

The speed, and the stop, start, and reversing controls for the vehicle can, if desired, be readily incorporated into a single lever such as indicated at 85 in Fig. 1.

No limitations are to be implied from the illustration or the detailed description thereof, it being my intention that all forms of construction and variations in detail coming within the scope of the hereto annexed claims are to be considered as comprehended by the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A motor-driven invalids chair providing endless traction belts, a power plant for driving the belts, an auxiliary support for the front end of the chair comprised of a wheeled carriage movable from a normally inactive elevated position into a lowered operating position whereat the wheel bears upon the ground and causes the front end of the traction belts to be lifted clear of the latter, motor-driven means for powering the auxiliary support in effecting either the raising or lowering movements of the carriage, said chair having a series of longitudinally spaced dolly-yokes rocker-mounted for movement about transverse horizontal axes, and dolly-wheels therefor, acting to give support to the traction run of said traction belts, and means acting to cant the rearmost yoke and depress one of the wheels thereof automatically in response to a lowering of the wheeled carriage.

2. A motor-driven invalids chair comprising, in combination: a chassis frame comprising side stringers, and bracing members interconnected across the stringers and including a severalty of longitudinally spaced cross-arms extending by their ends laterally beyond the stringers; a through-axle extending transversely of the frame at the rear end of the latter and likewise extending by its ends laterally beyond the stringers; stub front axles carried outside the stringers at each side of the frame; driver wheels Journaled on the exposed ends of the through-axle; idler wheels journaled on the stub front axles; dollyyokes rocker-mounted on the exposed ends of the cross-arms; dolly-wheels supported by the arms of the yokes to have the wheels occupy positions below a plane common to the undersides of the driver and idler wheels; endless traction belts for each side of the chair working about the driver, idler and dolly wheels; and means for powering the driver wheels.

3. Structure according to claim 2 having a body which provides a seat for the chair and which is skirted about the sides and ends to substantially shroud the chassis frame and the running gear excepting only for the lower or traction run of the belts.

4. An invalids chair according to claim 3 having a steerable wheeled carriage located at the front of the chair and supported for vertical movement from a normally inactive elevated position into a lowered operating position whereat the wheel bears upon the ground and causes the front end of the traction belts to be lifted clear of the round, means being provided driven from the means which drives the driver wheels for powering the carriage in its said vertical movement, and means being provided arranged and adapted to act in unison with a lowering of the wheeled carriage for simultaneously canting the rearmost dolly-yoke to locate the axis of the aft dolly-wheel in a depressed position.

ELDEN C. GLEASON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 644,853 Fahl Mar. 6, 1900 760,810 Scott May 24, 1904 1,262,806 Kemble Apr. 16, 1918 1,283,211 Kintzing Oct. 29, 1918 1,292,047 Rackstraw Jan. 21, 1919 1,317,103 Rimailho Sept. 23, 1919 1,537,183 OHara May 12, 1925 r 1,636,620 Berry July 19, 1927 1,673,875 Knox June 19, 1928 1,818,899 Lusse Aug. 11, 1931 1,835,049 Hottel Dec. 8, 1931 2,087,574 Kaufer July 20, 1937 2,344,730 Ramsey Mar. 21, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 25,182 France Jan. 6, 1923 193,891 Great Britain Feb. 28, 1923 201,641 Great Britain Aug. 3, 1923 446,428 Great Britain Apr. 30, 1936 503,238 France June 5, 1920 881,621 France Apr. 30, 1943 

